English numerals
English number words include numerals and various words derived from them, as well as a large number of words borrowed from other languages.
Cardinal numbers
s refer to the size of a group. In English, these words are numerals.0 | zero | 10 | ten | ||
1 | one | 11 | eleven | ||
2 | two | 12 | twelve | 20 | twenty |
3 | three | 13 | thirteen | 30 | thirty |
4 | four | 14 | fourteen | 40 | forty ' |
5 | five | 15 | fifteen ' | 50 | fifty ' |
6 | six | 16 | sixteen | 60 | sixty |
7 | seven | 17 | seventeen | 70 | seventy |
8 | eight | 18 | eighteen ' | 80 | eighty ' |
9 | nine | 19 | nineteen | 90 | ninety ' |
If a number is in the range 21 to 99, and the second digit is not zero, the number is typically written as two words separated by a hyphen.
21 | twenty-one |
25 | twenty-five |
32 | thirty-two |
58 | fifty-eight |
64 | sixty-four |
79 | seventy-nine |
83 | eighty-three |
99 | ninety-nine |
In English, the hundreds are perfectly regular, except that the word hundred remains in its singular form regardless of the number preceding it.
100 | one hundred |
200 | two hundred |
... | ... |
900 | nine hundred |
So too are the thousands, with the number of thousands followed by the word "thousand".
1,000 | one thousand |
2,000 | two thousand |
... | ... |
10,000 | ten thousand or a myriad, which usually means an indefinitely large number. |
11,000 | eleven thousand |
... | ... |
20,000 | twenty thousand |
21,000 | twenty-one thousand |
30,000 | thirty thousand |
85,000 | eighty-five thousand |
100,000 | one hundred thousand or one lakh ' |
999,000 | nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand ' nine hundred ninety-nine thousand ' |
1,000,000 | one million |
10,000,000 | ten million or one crore ' |
In American usage, four-digit numbers are often named using multiples of "hundred" and combined with tens and ones: "eleven hundred three", "twelve hundred twenty-five", "four thousand forty-two", or "ninety-nine hundred ninety-nine." In British usage, this style is common for multiples of 100 between 1,000 and 2,000 but not for higher numbers.
Americans may pronounce four-digit numbers with non-zero tens and ones as pairs of two-digit numbers without saying "hundred" and inserting "oh" for zero tens: "twenty-six fifty-nine" or "forty-one oh five". This usage probably evolved from the distinctive usage for years; "nineteen-eighty-one", or from four-digit numbers used in the American telephone numbering system which were originally two letters followed by a number followed by a four-digit number, later by a three-digit number followed by the four-digit number. It is avoided for numbers less than 2500 if the context may mean confusion with time of day: "ten ten" or "twelve oh four".
Intermediate numbers are read differently depending on their use. Their typical naming occurs when the numbers are used for counting. Another way is for when they are used as labels. The second column method is used much more often in American English than British English. The third column is used in British English but rarely in American English. In other words, British English and American English can seemingly agree, but it depends on a specific situation.
Common British vernacular | Common American vernacular | Common British vernacular | |
"How many marbles do you have?" | "What is your house number?" | "Which bus goes to the High Street?" | |
101 | "A hundred and one." | "One-oh-one." Here, "oh" is used for the digit zero. | "One-oh-one." |
109 | "A hundred and nine." | "One-oh-nine." | "One-oh-nine." |
110 | "A hundred and ten." | "One-ten." | "One-one-oh." |
117 | "A hundred and seventeen." | "One-seventeen." | "One-one-seven." |
120 | "A hundred and twenty." | "One-twenty." | "One-two-oh", "One-two-zero." |
152 | "A hundred and fifty-two." | "One-fifty-two." | "One-five-two." |
208 | "Two hundred and eight." | "Two-oh-eight." | "Two-oh-eight." |
394 | "Three hundred and ninety-four." | "Three-ninety-four." | "Three-ninety-four." or "Three-nine-four." |
Note: When a cheque is written, the number 100 is always written "one hundred". It is never "a hundred".
In American English, many students are taught not to use the word and anywhere in the whole part of a number, so it is not used before the tens and ones. It is instead used as a verbal delimiter when dealing with [|compound numbers]. Thus, instead of "three hundred and seventy-three," "three hundred seventy-three" would be said. Despite this rule, some Americans use the and in reading numbers containing tens and ones as an alternative variant.
Very large numbers
For numbers above a million, three main systems name numbers in English :- the long scale designates a system of numeric names in which a thousand million is called a milliard, and billion is used for a million million. This system is still used in several other European languages.
- the short scale designates a system of numeric names in which a thousand million is called a billion, and the word milliard is not used.
- the Indian numbering system, used widely in South Asia.
Number notation | Power notation | Short scale | Long scale | Indian English |
1,000,000 | 106 | one million | one million | ten lakh |
1,000,000,000 | 109 | one billion a thousand million | one milliard a thousand million | one hundred crore |
1,000,000,000,000 | 1012 | one trillion a thousand billion | one billion a million million | one lakh crore |
1,000,000,000,000,000 | 1015 | one quadrillion a thousand trillion | one billiard a thousand billion | ten crore crore |
1,000,000,000,000,000,000 | 1018 | one quintillion a thousand quadrillion | one trillion a million billion | ten thousand crore crore |
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 | 1021 | one sextillion a thousand quintillion | one trilliard a thousand trillion | one crore crore crore |
The numbers past one trillion in the short scale, in ascending powers of 1000, are as follows: quadrillion, quintillion, sextillion, septillion, octillion, nonillion, decillion, undecillion, duodecillion, tredecillion, quattuordecillion, quindecillion, sexdecillion, septendecillion, octodecillion, novemdecillion and vigintillion. The highest number in this series listed in modern dictionaries is centillion, which is 10 to the 303rd power. The interim powers of one thousand between vigintillion and centillion do not have standardized names, nor do any higher powers, but there are many ad hoc extensions in use. The highest number listed in Robert Munafo's table of such unofficial names is milli-millillion, which was coined as a name for 10 to the 3,000,003rd power.
The googolplex was often cited as the largest named number in English. If a googol is ten to the one hundredth power, then a googolplex is one followed by a googol of zeros. There is the coinage, of very little use, of ten to the googolplex power, of the word.
The terms arab, kharab, padm and shankh are more commonly found in old books on Indian mathematics.
Here are some approximate composite large numbers in American English:
Quantity | Written | Pronounced |
1,200,000 | 1.2 million | one point two million |
3,000,000 | 3 million | three million |
250,000,000 | 250 million | two hundred fifty million |
6,400,000,000 | 6.4 billion | six point four billion |
23,380,000,000 | 23.38 billion | twenty-three point three eight billion |
Often, large numbers are written with half-spaces or thin spaces separating the thousands instead of commas—to ensure that confusion is not caused in countries where a decimal comma is used. Thus, a million is often written 1 000 000.
In some areas, a point may also be used as a thousands separator, but then the decimal separator must be a comma. In English the point is used as the decimal separator, and the comma as the thousands separator.
Special names
Some numbers have special names in addition to their regular names, most depending on context.- 0:
- *zero: formal scientific usage
- * nought: mostly British usage, common in science to refer to subscript 0 indicating an initial state
- *naught: archaic term for nothingness, which may or may not be equivalent to the number; mostly American usage, old-fashioned spelling of nought
- *aught: proscribed but still occasionally used when a digit is 0
- *oh: used when spelling numbers but can cause confusion with the letter o if reading a mix of numbers and letters
- *nil: in general sport scores, British usage
- *nothing: in general sport scores, American usage
- *: used technically to refer to an object or idea related to nothingness. The 0th aleph number is pronounced "aleph-null".
- *love: in tennis, badminton, squash and similar sports
- *zilch, nada , zip: used informally when stressing nothingness; this is true especially in combination with one another ; American usage
- *nix: also used as a verb; mostly American usage
- *cypher / cipher: archaic, from French chiffre, in turn from Arabic sifr, meaning zero
- *goose egg
- *duck
- *' the half of a domino tile with no pips
- 1:
- * ace in certain sports and games, as in tennis or golf, indicating success with one stroke, and the face of a die, playing card or domino half with one pip
- * birdie in golf denotes one stroke less than par, and bogey, one stroke more than par
- * '
- * unit
- * linear the degree of a polynomial is 1; also for explicitly denoting the first power of a unit: linear metre
- * unity in mathematics
- * protagonist first actor in theatre of Ancient Greece
- 2:
- * '
- * brace, from Old French "arms", as in "what can be held in two arms".
- * '
- * deuce the face of a die, playing card or domino half with two pips
- * eagle in golf denotes two strokes less than par
- * '
- * quadratic the degree of a polynomial is 2
- ** also square or squared for denoting the second power of a unit: square metre or metre squared
- * ', second from the end
- * deuteragonist second actor in theatre of Ancient Greece
- 3:
- * trey the face of a die or playing card with three pips, a three-point field goal in basketball, nickname for the third carrier of the same personal name in a family
- * '
- * : three-of-a-kind in a poker hand. a player has three cards with the same numerical value
- * cubic the degree of a polynomial is 3
- ** also cube or cubed for denoting the third power of a unit: cubic metre or metre cubed
- * albatross in golf denotes three strokes less than par. Sometimes called double eagle
- * hat-trick or hat trick: achievement of three feats in sport or other contexts
- * ' third from the end
- * tritagonist third actor in theatre of Ancient Greece
- * turkey in bowling, three consecutive strikes
- 4:
- * cater: the face of a die or playing card with four pips
- * quartet
- * quartic or biquadratic the degree of a polynomial is 4
- * ' several specialized sets of four, such as four of a kind in poker, a carburetor with four inputs, etc.,
- * condor in golf denotes four strokes less than par
- * ' fourth from the end
- 5:
- * cinque or cinq the face of a die or playing card with five pips
- * quintet
- * nickel
- * quintic the degree of a polynomial is 5
- * ' several specialized sets of five, such as quintuplets, etc.
- 6:
- * half a dozen
- * ' the face of a die or playing card with six pips
- * sextet
- * sextic or hectic the degree of a polynomial is 6
- 7:
- * septet
- * septic or heptic the degree of a polynomial is 7
- 8:
- * '
- 9:
- * '
- 10:
- * dime
- *
- *decade, used for years but also other groups of 10 as in rosary prayers or Braille symbols
- 11: a
- 12: a dozen, used mostly in commerce
- 13: a baker's dozen
- 20: a score, nowadays archaic; famously used in the opening of the Gettysburg Address: "Four score and seven years ago..." The Number of the Beast in the King James Bible is rendered "Six hundred threescore and six". Also in The Book of Common Prayer, Psalm 90 as used in the Burial Service—"The days of our age are threescore years and ten;...."
- 50: half-century, literally half of a hundred, usually used in cricket scores.
- 55:
- 60: a shock: historical commercial count, described as "three scores".
- 100:
- *A century, also used in cricket scores and in cycling for 100 miles.
- *A ton, in Commonwealth English, the speed of 100 mph or 100 km/h.
- *A small hundred or short hundred
- 120:
- *A great hundred or long hundred, also called small gross, both archaic
- *Also sometimes referred to as duodecimal hundred, although that could literally also mean 144, which is twelve squared
- 144: a gross, used mostly in commerce
- 500: a ream
- 1000:
- *a grand, colloquially used especially when referring to money, also in fractions and multiples, e.g. half a grand, two grand, etc. Grand can also be shortened to "G" in many cases.
- *K, originally from the abbreviation of kilo-, e.g. "He only makes $20K a year."
- *Millennium, a period of one thousand years.
- *kilo-, a decimal unit prefix in the Metric system denoting multiplication by "one thousand". For example: 1 kilometre = 1000 metres.
- 1728: a great gross, used historically in commerce
- 10,000: a myriad, commonly used in the sense of an indefinite very high number
- 100,000: a lakh, in Indian English
- 10,000,000: a crore, in Indian English and written as 100,00,000.
- 10100: googol, used in mathematics
- 10googol: googolplex
- 10googolplex: googolplexplex
- 1-0 British English: one-nil; American English: one-nothing, one-zip, or one-zero
- 0-0 British English: nil-nil or nil all; American English: zero-zero or nothing-nothing,
- 2-2 two-two or two all; American English also twos, two to two, even at two, or two up.
The centuries of Italian culture have names in English borrowed from Italian:
- duecento " two hundred" for the years 1200 to 1299, or approximately 13th century
- trecento 14th century
- quattrocento 15th century
- cinquecento 16th century
- seicento 17th century
- settecento 18th century
- 19th century
- 20th century
Multiplicative adverbs and adjectives
A few numbers have specialised multiplicative numbers, which express how many times some event happens:one time | once |
two times | twice |
three times | thrice |
Compare these specialist multiplicative numbers to express how many times some thing exists :
× 1 | solitary | singular | one-off |
× 2 | double | twofold | duplicate |
× 3 | triple | threefold | triplicate |
× 4 | quadruple | fourfold | |
× 5 | quintuple | fivefold | |
× 6 | sextuple, hextuple | sixfold | |
× 7 | septuple, heptuple | sevenfold | |
×100 | ..... | hundredfold |
English also has some multipliers and distributive numbers, such as singly.
Other examples are given in the Specialist Numbers.
Negative numbers
The name of a negative number is the name of the corresponding positive number preceded by "minus" or "negative". Thus −5.2 is "minus five point two" or "negative five point two". For temperatures, North Americans colloquially say "below"—short for "below zero"—so a temperature of −5° is "five below". This is occasionally used for emphasis when referring to several temperatures or ranges both positive and negative. This is particularly common in Canada where the use of Celsius in weather forecasting means that temperatures can regularly drift above and below zero at certain times of year.Ordinal numbers
numbers refer to a position in a series. Common ordinals include:0th | zeroth or noughth ' | 10th | tenth | ||
1st | first | 11th | eleventh | ||
2nd | second | 12th | twelfth ' | 20th | twentieth |
3rd | third | 13th | thirteenth | 30th | thirtieth |
4th | fourth | 14th | fourteenth | 40th | fortieth ' |
5th | fifth | 15th | fifteenth | 50th | fiftieth |
6th | sixth | 16th | sixteenth | 60th | sixtieth |
7th | seventh | 17th | seventeenth | 70th | seventieth |
8th | eighth ' | 18th | eighteenth | 80th | eightieth |
9th | ninth ' | 19th | nineteenth | 90th | ninetieth |
Zeroth only has a meaning when counting starts with zero, which happens in a mathematical or computer science context. Ordinal numbers predate the invention of zero and positional notation.
Ordinal numbers such as 21st, 33rd, etc., are formed by combining a cardinal ten with an ordinal unit.
21st | twenty-first |
25th | twenty-fifth |
32nd | thirty-second |
58th | fifty-eighth |
64th | sixty-fourth |
79th | seventy-ninth |
83rd | eighty-third |
99th | ninety-ninth |
Higher ordinals are not often written in words, unless they are round numbers. They are written with digits and letters as described below. Some rules should be borne in mind.
- The suffixes -th, -st, -nd and -rd are occasionally written superscript above the number itself.
- If the tens digit of a number is 1, then "th" is written after the number. For example: 13th, 19th, 112th, 9,311th.
- If the tens digit is not equal to 1, then the following table could be used:
If the units digit is: | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4-9 |
This is written after the number | th | st | nd | rd | th |
- For example: 2nd, 7th, 20th, 23rd, 52nd, 135th, 301st.
- For example: 42d, 33d, 23d.
Dates
There are a number of ways to read years. The following table offers a list of valid pronunciations and alternate pronunciations for any given year of the Gregorian calendar.Year | Most common pronunciation method | Alternative methods |
1 BC | One BC | One BCE |
1 | The year One | One CE AD One |
235 | Two thirty-five | Two-three-five Two hundred thirty-five |
911 | Nine eleven | Nine-one-one Nine hundred eleven |
999 | Nine ninety-nine | Nine-nine-nine Nine hundred ninety-nine |
1000 | One thousand | Ten hundred 1K |
1004 | One thousand four | Ten oh-four |
1010 | Ten ten | One thousand ten |
1050 | Ten fifty | One thousand fifty |
1225 | Twelve twenty-five | One-two-two-five One thousand, two hundred twenty-five Twelve-two-five |
1900 | Nineteen hundred | One thousand, nine hundred Nineteen aught |
1901 | Nineteen oh-one | Nineteen hundred one One thousand, nine hundred one Nineteen aught one |
1919 | Nineteen nineteen | Nineteen hundred nineteen One thousand, nine hundred nineteen |
1999 | Nineteen ninety-nine | Nineteen hundred ninety-nine One thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine |
2000 | Two thousand | Twenty hundred Two triple-oh Y2K |
2001 | Two thousand one | Twenty oh-one Twenty hundred one Two double-oh-one Two oh-oh-one |
2009 | Two thousand nine | Twenty oh-nine Twenty hundred nine Two double-oh-nine Two oh-oh-nine |
2010 | Twenty ten | Twenty hundred ten two-oh-one-oh Two thousand ten |
Twelve thirty-four would be the norm on both sides of the Atlantic for the year 1234. The years 2000 to 2009 are most often read as two thousand, two thousand one and the like by both British and American speakers. For years after 2009, twenty eleven, twenty fourteen, etc. are more common, even in years earlier than 2009 BC/BCE. Likewise, the years after 1009 are also read in the same manner. Some Britons read years within the 1000s to 9000s BC/BCE in the American manner, that is, 1234 BC is read as twelve thirty-four BC, while 2400 BC can be read as either two thousand four hundred or twenty four hundred BC.
Fractions and decimals
In spoken English, ordinal numbers also quantify the denominator of a fraction. Thus "fifth" can mean the element between fourth and sixth, or the fraction created by dividing the unit into five pieces. In this usage, the ordinal numbers can be pluralized: one seventh, two sevenths. The sole exception to this rule is division by two: the ordinal term "second" can only refer to location in a series; for fractions English speakers use the term "half".Here are some common English fractions :
one one-hundredth | |
two one-hundredths | |
three one-hundredths | |
one two-hundredth | |
two two-hundredths | |
three two-hundredths | |
one sixteenth | |
or 0.1 | one tenth |
one eighth | |
or 0.2 | two tenths |
¼ | one quarter or one fourth |
or 0.3 | three tenths |
⅓ | one third |
⅜ | three eighths |
or 0.4 | four tenths |
½ | one half |
or 0.6 | six tenths |
⅝ | five eighths |
⅔ | two thirds |
or 0.7 | seven tenths |
¾ | three quarters or three fourths |
or 0.8 | eight tenths |
⅞ | seven eighths |
or 0.9 | nine tenths |
fifteen sixteenths |
Alternatively, and for greater numbers, one may say for 1/2 "one over two", for 5/8 "five over eight", and so on. This "over" form is also widely used in mathematics.
Fractions together with an integer are read as follows:
- 1 1/2 is "one and a half"
- 6 1/4 is "six and a quarter"
- 7 5/8 is "seven and five eighths"
- 9 1/2
- 9½
Some American and Canadian schools teach students to pronounce decimally written fractions as though they were longhand fractions, such as thirteen and seven tenths for 13.7. This formality is often dropped in common speech and is steadily disappearing in instruction in mathematics and science as well as in international American schools. In the U.K., and among most North Americans, 13.7 would be read thirteen point seven.
For example:
- 0.002 is "point zero zero two", "point oh oh two", "nought point zero zero two", etc.; or "two thousandths"
- 3.1416 is "three point one four one six"
- 99.3 is "ninety-nine point three"; or "ninety-nine and three tenths".
Whether or not digits or words are used
With few exceptions, most grammatical texts rule that the numbers zero to nine inclusive should be "written out" - instead of "1" and "2", one would write "one" and "two".After "nine", one can head straight back into the 10, 11, 12, etc., although some write out the numbers until "twelve".
Another common usage is to write out any number that can be expressed as one or two words, and use figures otherwise.
Numbers at the beginning of a sentence should also be written out, or the sentence rephrased.
The above rules are not always followed. In literature, larger numbers might be spelled out. On the other hand, digits might be more commonly used in technical or financial articles, where many figures are discussed. In particular, the two different forms should not be used for figures that serve the same purpose; for example, it is inelegant to write, "Between day twelve and day 15 of the study, the population doubled."
Empty numbers
Colloquial English's small vocabulary of empty numbers can be employed when there is uncertainty as to the precise number to use, but it is desirable to define a general range: specifically, the terms "umpteen", "umpty", and "zillion". These are derived etymologically from the range affixes:- "-teen"
- "-ty"
- "-illion".
Usage of empty numbers:
- The word "umpteen" may be used as an adjective, as in "I had to go to umpteen stores to find shoes that fit." It can also be used to modify a larger number, usually "million", as in "Umpteen million people watched the show; but they still cancelled it."
- "Umpty" is not in common usage. It can appear in the form "umpty-one", as in "There are umpty-one ways to do it wrong." "Umpty-ump" is also heard, though "ump" is never used by itself.
- The word "zillion" may be used as an adjective, modifying a noun. The noun phrase normally contains the indefinite article "a", as in "There must be a zillion pages on the World Wide Web."
- The plural "zillions" designates a number indefinitely larger than "millions" or "billions". In this case, the construction is parallel to the one for "millions" or "billions", with the number used as a plural count noun, followed by a prepositional phrase with "of", as in "There are zillions of grains of sand on the beaches of the world."
- Empty numbers are sometimes made up, with obvious meaning: "squillions" is obviously an empty, but very large, number; a "squintillionth" would be a very small number.
- Some empty numbers may be modified by actual numbers, such as "four zillion", and are used for jest, exaggeration, or to relate abstractly to actual numbers.
- Empty numbers are colloquial, and primarily used in oral speech or informal contexts. They are inappropriate in formal or scholarly usage.